JVC shows wall-mountable LCoS HDTVs

JVC, purveyor of LCoS-based rear-projection HDTVs including the well-performing HD-56FN97, announced a pair of superslim models in mid-December, and showed them again at CES 2007. The sets are designed to "easily fit on most stands and furniture designed for flat-panel TVs" according to the press release. The 58-inch HD-58S998 (January, $3,300 selling price) and the 65-inch HD-65S998 (March, $4,200) occupy a mere 10.7 inches and 11.6 inches of depth, respectively. The company is marketing a stand (pictured at right) and a wall-mount bracket that allows these TVs to hang over the fireplace, plasma TV-style.

Given the fact that a comparably sized plasma, such as Panasonic's 58-inch TH-58PX60U, currently goes for about $3,300 itself, we expect JVC's selling price for the 58-inch model to drop pretty quickly. The 65-inch model should also fall in price given the recent introductions of a couple of less expensive big-screen plasmas, such as the 65-inch Philips for $3,500 and the 60-inch Vizio for $2,999. It's also worth noting that some previous attempts at superslim, wall-mountable, rear-projection HDTVs, such as RCA's HD61THW263, compromised picture quality to a certain extent. If JVC's sets do not, and their prices fall enough to remain competitive with plasma sets, they may help stave off the inevitable death of rear-projection HDTVs.

JVC also announced an "affordable" 1080p LCoS projector, the DLA-HD1 (February, $6,300), which joins the ranks of other less-expensive-than-before 1080p projectors, such as Sony's Pearl, Mitsubishi's HC5000BL, and Panasonic's PT-AE1000U. JVC's spec sheet trumps all of those models with a 15,000:1 contrast ratio, which the company claims is the "industry's highest without the use of an iris." We haven't tested any of JVC's LCoS front projectors yet, since they typically have even higher price tags, but this one definitely looks interesting.